I was in the Navy at the time but you couldn't escape the coverage on the news or in newspapers. I still find it incredible that with the warning belches and the rising mound on the side of the mountain that scientists didn't take it more seriously (other than that David Johnston fella, who perished that day)...but much of volcanology can be dated BSH or ASH (before or after St Helens), and the notoriouis lateral-blast eruption is now known (as a stratovolcano) to be one of the most devastating kinds. The slope of the terrain helped channel all the landslides, lahores and allowed the pyroclastic flow to (some speculate) race at the speed of sound. The number most cited for the total energy released in the lateral-burst is 24 megatons, Hiroshima (Little Boy) was just 15 Kilotons.

My little "orchard" is at the far edge of my property. They hit there first before coming into the yard proper. I shooed them off before they could destroy my veggie garden. I also have a bird-bath and they drank it halfway dry.

My property backs onto a county-owned greenbelt and I get all sorts of critters. I had a coyote two years ago. I've heard reports of bear but I've never seen one on my property.

My place is about a mile away from an indian reservation - that does big business in illegal fireworks. The noise is relentless for a month before until a month after. Last year on the 4th I took advantage of the "cover of fire" to test out the new drum I had purchased for my Saiga 12. I just took it out to the far end of the property and "relieved" it of 20 rounds. If anyone noticed they sure never said anything ;')

OK, it's time to get this out of my system. I'll try to be brief but feel free to scroll on by if you like.

There's a reason why my posts have been few and far in between. I've had a smothering cloud of suspicion and doubt hanging over me until recently but I'm no longer constrained from speaking about it.

I have mentioned before that my employer abruptly removed me from my job and reassigned me to a different position in another city. They sought to punish me (and they succeeded) in an effort to induce me to quit (in this they failed). It meant a loss of respect and regard among my peers, a constant implication of incompetence, and of course, the very real damage associated with an arduous commute every morning.

The daily trek took it's toll (figuratively and literally) - 60 miles each way over the worst stretch of highway in Washington state. I was able to make the trip in around 70 minutes for the morning commute, but only by leaving the house before 05:00. I was locked into a schedule that demanded me to remain locked to my desk until at least 14:30. Every minute of delay after that added approximately 5 additional minutes to the commute. My average afternoon drive was 2.5 hours.

If it were simply miles to be transverse that would be bad enough, but these were tortuous miles of bad road and worse drivers. It was a juggernaut that dearly wanted to reduce you to rubble. Every trip, every day brought fresh encounters with idiots and assholes to the point where I lost count.

So my saga starts with a weekend visit to the post office where I find a summons to appear. Oh, and a half dozen letters from attorneys looking for me to call them and hire them. I'm thinking, "this can't be good".

Not a speeding ticket, nor overtime parking. This brief note said that I was being charged with Felony Hit & Run. The date for my court appearance was expired by three days. There was an arrest warrant out for me.

Enjoy your weekend.

The following Monday I went to work trying to unravel the mystery. I called the courthouse, which was in the city 60 miles away, and found out what it would take to see the file they had on me. That turned out to be an in-person visit to the court. I immediately got in my car, drove to the courthouse and surrendered myself.

I went before a judge who asked if my rights had been read to me - they hadn't and everything ground to a halt while they found another officer who could remove me from the courtroom until I could be Mirandized. Then back to the courtroom where the judge asked me if I was aware of the charges. When I explained that I had not seen them everything stopped again until they could obtain a paper copy of everything. After reading through the papers the judge asked for my plea, to which I replied, "Not guilty" of course. The judge then asked why I had missed my original arraignment and I explained that I had been sick and missed the post office for a week.

I was released on my own recognizance and it was off to find a lawyer.

My brother knew a good one and I made an appointment to see him. We went over the paperwork and then we did question and answer for a while. It didn't take long for me to realize that he thought I was at least partially guilty. After an angry exchange he asked me to explain ("in your own words") what happened.

"I don't know" was the gist of it. We had to reconstruct from the officer's report the narrative being used against me: On October 5th of 2015 I allegedly struck another vehicle on the freeway and then fled. Mind you, it was mid-May of 2016 when I received the summons to appear.

"That's interesting" was my reply to my attorney. "What damages are they alleging?"

He showed me a picture of a crumpled rear bumper.

"Even more interesting" I remarked, "since my car doesn't have a scratch on it""

We went outside where I showed him my vehicle. I asked him to take note of my front bumper which, like most cars of the era, is made of painted plastic. "You see, no dents, no scrapes, not even a scratch".

"It never happened"

I have no recollection of these events. As far as I know they never occurred. The lack of damage to my car reinforces my contention. Whoever lodged the complaint was lying through his teeth.

We spoke at length about their case, their process, and my chances. "Can't we just send them pictures of my car and have them dismiss the charges?" I asked. "This is absurd!"

The short (and long) answer was no. There was no short-circuiting the lengthy, perilous process. His retainer was $5000. He was nice enough to let me make installments.

A court date was set and I appeared at what would be the first of 8 appearances. Not one productive thing occurred at any of them. Each one represented a maneuver by either the court, the prosecuting attorney, or my attorney. They made me an offer - 30 days in jail plus $1000, plus court costs. I turned them down. We asked for summary judgement - that the charges be dismissed for lack of evidence. It was refused.

We worked our way toward a trial. The delays, extensions, and postponements pushed us later into the summer and fall.

Finally my attorney came to me with a new offer of some kind of delayed prosecution. He laid out the PA's case, including the fact that six months had transpired and the PA hadn't even read the case file yet. The implication was that the fix was in and no matter how good my evidence - I would be convicted.

After sleeping and praying on it I accepted the offer. I was to have no contact with the "victim" (someone that I couldn't point out if my life depended upon it), and keep my nose clean for six months. If I could successfully complete the terms of the diversion the court would dismiss the charges against me.

June 1st marks the passage of the six month deadline and I have received the Notice To Dismiss from the court. It's finally over.

All in all this cost me a year of misery, $6000 in attorney fees and expenses, and a ton of reflection on "what is right"

I have no pearls of wisdom, no parable of truth. No simplistic "Don't drink and drive" or "Be sure to wear your seatbelt" here. How can anyone defend themselves against someone inventing an event? The answer is you can't.

Sometimes you just get f*cked. I thank God I had the resources to pay what needed paying. I would hate to be a pauper in this POS country these days. The only tiny satisfaction I have from any of this is the knowledge that some creep tried to extort money from me by lying about a car crash (that never happened) and he failed.

During the course of discovery process I did get the persons name and town. He isn't anyone that I've knowingly crossed paths before. I do not have a picture and while under a no-contact court order was reluctant to venture to find out.

I have since been transferred to another different assignment that takes me in the opposite direction so hopefully will never encounter him.

It's this kind of bullsplatter that reduces my empathy for statists and the slime that supports them to a perfect zero. When the SHTF, and it will, the bill coming due alone ensures a robust explosion of karma.

Sorry you had to go through all that 'Soup, on top of everything else going on.